The present invention relates to catching spent shell casings upon their ejection from the side of shotguns and rifles.
Throughout this discussion, I assume a right handed sportsman, i.e. a sportsman squeezing the trigger of his or her shotgun with his or her right trigger finger, and I assume that a shotgun ejects its used shell casing to the right side of the shotgun, The shell casing catcher is then arranged to be mounted on the right side of the shotgun.
The problems which a left handed sportsman has in using a rifle or shotgun were described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,138,787, issued August, 1992, to Ronald and Travis Riddle. That patent shows a device for catching and holding rifle shell casings ejected from a conventional M16 or similar rifle. It utilizes a rigid metal shell deflector and a flexible bag below the shell deflector. At column 1, lines 28-38, the problem of a left handed rifleman being burned by hot shell casings being ejected from the right hand side of a rifle is described and utilized as one reason to adopt the device showing in Riddle ""787. FIG. 3 of that patent shows the deflector 32 and bag 26, mounted on the right hand side of the M16 rifle.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,959,918 issued October 1990 to Kenneth Perez described a shell catcher for handheld firearms which can be detachably mounted adjacent a chamber of the firearm from which the used shells are expelled. The device provides for the use of a flexible bag carried by a rigid frame and a mounting bracket which allows the device to be mounted on the gun without scratching its surface. Like Riddle ""787, Perez ""918 provides for a shell deflector. Shell casings are then extracted from the bag by opening a zipper 58 as shown in FIG. 3. At col. 1, lines 10-20, Perez mentions protecting the environment, and hunters spending hours searching for the empty shells and retrieving them.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,153,981 issued October 1964 to William Brass describes a receiver for spent shell casings. That patent shows a flexible bag which is stretched over a spring steel wire frame and clamped to the side of a rifle. Between the wire frame and the clamp is a pivot, described at col. 3, lines 30-50. The pivot action is restrained by friction imposed on the pivot by the spring steel wire frame. At col. 3, lines 50-55, Brass mentions, xe2x80x9cIt will be noted that the device is relatively light, and thus will not impair the balance of the firearm. The device is easily mounted in place, and removed, and when mounted in place remains firmly in position. No modification of the firearm is needed to mount the device in place.xe2x80x9d
The above patents are representative of the xe2x80x9cbag catcherxe2x80x9d approach to catching spent shell casings. The advantages and disadvantages of the xe2x80x9cbag approachxe2x80x9d are described in the Summary of Invention, below. The other approach to solving the problem is the xe2x80x9cshell retainerxe2x80x9d approach. Three representatives examples of that prior art are given here.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,603,015 issued September 1971 to Kenneth W. Jensen describes a metal a xe2x80x9ckeeper rodxe2x80x9d slidably supported on the gun substantially parallel to the barrel, and disposed adjacent the discharge port. In the operative position, the keeper rod holds the empty shell casing in the ejection port where it can be manually removed after a single firing. In a nonoperative position, the keeper rod allows the ejected shell casings to leave the discharge port so that the magazine can be fully loaded to permit multiple firing.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,609,900 issued October 1971 to William Bernocco describes a clip which attaches adjacent to the ejection port of a rifle and grips a shell casing upon ejection.
A device similar in effect to Jensen, ""015 and Bernocco ""900 is described in xe2x80x9cSkeet Shooting Reviewxe2x80x9d May 1995, at page 75. The device is labelled xe2x80x9cThe Morton Mechanical Shell Catcher.xe2x80x9d The advertisement includes the phrases, xe2x80x9cU.S. Pat. No. 3,984,932,xe2x80x9d xe2x80x9cFor Remington Models 1100 and 11-87 Automatic Shotgunsxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cFits Both 12 Gauge (Right Hand Models Only) and 20 Gauge (Right Hand, Standard Weight Model Only).xe2x80x9d
Another device similar in effect to Jensen, Bernocco, and Morton is shown in xe2x80x9cShooting Accessories Ltdxe2x80x9d catalog dated xe2x80x9cMarch 1995xe2x80x9d On the back page of the catalog is the xe2x80x9cT and S Shell Catcher (Snaps On and Off).xe2x80x9d The picture in the catalog shows a plastic clip which appears to partially block the ejection port, such that the spent shell casings become wedged and fails to fully eject.
In essence, the Jensen, Bernocco, Morton and Shooting Accessories devices restrict the sportsman to one round before having to interrupt and reach up, remove the shell, and then resume shooting.
The present invention utilizes a xe2x80x9csee through cagexe2x80x9d which is mounted on an offset bracket which in turn is mounted adjacent to the ejection port. The cage is pivoted to rotate between two specific positions 90 degrees apart. An extension spring extends between a particular position on an offset bracket and a particular position on the cage. As a result, the cage can toggle and hold firmly in either a shell casing receiving position or in an unload position.
In the shell casing receiving position, the mouth of the cage toggles up close to the ejection port.
Unlike the prior art, there is no clamp to squeeze the offset bracket against the body of the shotgun. Instead, keyholes formed in the bracket slide onto two threaded step pins, and the bracket is locked in place by the interaction of a detent 22 and a cam surface 20a formed in a thumbwheel 20 and mounted for rotation parallel to the offset bracket 25. The cam surface 20a allows a fast and reliable way to ruggedly attach the shell catcher bracket to step pins on the firearm.
The step pins replace pins which are normally part of the firearm, and which lock in place the trigger mechanism and action of the shotgun. For example, the Remington semi-automatic shotgun, model 1100, has pins which can quickly and easily be removed and replaced with the two threaded step pins.
It is a primary object of the present invention to minimize distraction and loss of accuracy while the sportsman is aiming and shooting. The prior art has five main drawbacks which serve as sources of distraction for the sportsman:
1. Breaking the pattern and timing of the sportsman by requiring him to reach up and remove the shell casing from the shell casing retainer, such as in Jensen and Morton devices described above.
2. Interfering with the xe2x80x9csightxe2x80x9d of the sportsman, i.e. the view adjacent to the long axis of the shotgun barrel. That xe2x80x9csightxe2x80x9d includes a target, the lead ahead of the target, and the firearm. For example Riddle ""787, and Perez ""918 block part of the xe2x80x9csight.xe2x80x9d By contrast, the present invention permits the sportsman to look right through the mesh walls.
3. Interfering with the static xe2x80x9cbalancexe2x80x9d of the firearm resulting in torque which pulls the rifle to the right while the firearm is being raised and aimed.
4. Interfering with the Dynamic xe2x80x9cbalance of the firearm.
5. Causing noise or rattling which distracts the shooter.
It is a further object of the invention to control the trajectory of the expended shell casings such that they do not wedge against the walls of the cage and instead, lay down in parallel with each other inside the cage.